Getting Started Blogging (Help?)

folclor

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Hey everyone! At this point I should be old hat at this, but I'm absolutely not. I've tried blogging a bit, but I'm absolutely terrible at talking about myself so I quickly run out of blogging content. Does anyone have pointers on good topics?

I am published. I had two books with a now defunct publisher and have published the whole series on my own now. Do I blog only about writing or...? I don't know, I'm a bit confused. Can anyone help?
 

RaiscaraAvalon

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That really all depends. If you want a good resource on blogging, try www.problogger.com, there are a ton of good ideas there. I tend to blog about whatever suits my fancy that day, from writing to my illnesses to whatever. You may want to specialize more than that - I'm naturally adverse to specializing lol.
 

AW Admin

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Do you read blogs? Read a lot of them. Follow links.

What are you interested in? What are you passionate about?

Don't blog just to blog; blog because you have something to say.

Blog about reading, if you read, for instance.
 

clek25

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As to how to market a blog, I'm not the right person to give advice. From a perspective of how to write a blog, I will tell you that there is no right or wrong way to do it. Write about what you want! It can be all about writing. It can be about everything in your life. It can be writing and life and dogs. Etc. My personal blog is kind of just my innermost thoughts at any given time. It has no rhyme or reason. That said, I'm not looking for it to become this smash internet sensation. Themes attract readers who are interested in that theme, so if you're writing about writing and get all these writers and then start talking about skydiving you may lose some interest.

That all being said, point is that I think it comes down to what you want this blog to become. A steady theme is necessary for a captive audience. Writing for the sake of writing doesn't need to be anything planned or themed.

Hope this helps...
 

the bunny hugger

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I think a blog about one's self if likely to get boring quickly. You will notice that even famous authors blog "as" themselves but most of he time about a range of topics that their have a strong point of view on.
 

folclor

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Thank you all for your advice and thoughts! I just have felt so lost recently and I'm trying to get back on the horse with absolutely everything.
 

L. OBrien

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A lot of the stuff that got said above is really good advice.

I would recommend picking a couple of topics that are of interest to you and using your blog to discuss those. Having a few topics gives you some latitude to shift around and bring in fresh ideas, while also keeping your blog centered and keeping it from feeling too scattered. Following other blogs is a good way to get ideas for content. Personally, since I blog about writing, I get a lot of ideas from reading books and beta reading for people. Writing about yourself is optional. (I'm bad at making my daily life sound interesting, so I don't, but some people run excellent blogs with a lot of personal content. It's really a choice.)

Also, it does get easier once you're started. Kind of like writing fiction, you build up a base of ideas over time.
 

brandenburgdm

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I totally understand the challenge of keeping up a blog. I'm currently on my second one. And the second one was pretty much dead until the beginning of this year when I started doing a series of stories. I think, like the others have said, coming up with a couple of topics to discuss is a good way to keep yourself going. It's just a matter of making yourself do it X amount of times a week/month. Finally, it depends on what you want to do with it, blogging about writing is a good thing, maybe you could review books? Or you could go into what not to do's? Or maybe you could start a new story and post it on the blog in parts?
 

Laer Carroll

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If you want to sell your published and future books, write about topics that your prospective book buyers would like to read about. And which are or would likely be included in your books. Classic cars, horse racing, exotic locales, space exploration, spelunking, Regency England - whatever. If you are passionate about them most likely every week you will come across a fascinating tidbit you would love to share, and like-minded possible readers would love to know about.

The easiest topic is new books, TV shows, movies, and events. You only need a very few SHORT paragraphs followed by a link to them. Include an image or a video at the end. WordPress.com makes this easy to do. Be sure the site where you get them allows you to do this. Amazon and B&N not only allow this but like you to do so, as you are advertising their books. Most movie studios who post previews on YouTube are just as eager, for the same reason. Word of mouth (or blog!) is more effective than even the most expensive and flashy ad campaigns. And they know it.

Post on the average of once a week, not too often or too rarely.

Write about yourself? Are you famous? If not, almost no one will care about you

Write about writing? Are you famous? If not, almost no one will care to read your advice.

UNLESS you're incredibly witty and funny and engaging. Then you can write about foot warts and diaper rash and any other topic.
 

James W

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There is a really awesome guide for starting out available here - neilpatel.com/how-to-start-a-blog/ - epic content, incredibly informative. Hope you find it useful!
 

Fruitbat

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I don't keep up on my own blogs like I should but fwiw, the kind of blogs I enjoy reading are posts about the author's life, just general stuff like what they cooked or made, trips they went on, a snit with the neighbors, their pets, their opinions on stuff, whatever might be of interest to their particular readership.

Some writing stuff is good too but when that's all it is, I usually quickly get tired of it because it seems too much like a series of advertisements. I'm not interested in reading too much about their writing process and such either, unless it's something unusual. Photos are great. That's just me, though.
 
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I too am just starting out and am having the same struggle as you are. I'm hoping as time goes by, if I can continue posting on a regular basis, it will become second nature, and I will figure out what works and what doesn't. Looking back on mine, personal stories get read more than writing ones. Just thought I'd share that with you.
 

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So many good advice here! I find it also important to find your topics, your niche. What do you find interesting? What do your readers find interesting?
It's also a big (technical) help if you choose your blogging platform and blogging tools wisely. An end-to-end tool for blogging (e.g. Intellyo) can save you time when just getting started.
Reading a lot of other blogs can help you to get a picture what is out there, what topics are not covered yet and also to find inspiration. You can always ask your readers/followers what topics they are interested in.
 

Ed8350

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For anyone starting out in the world of blogging I would say this

- Keep it simple and be consistent. It's so easy to just start blogging, get excited about what you're doing and then gradually either get bored or get down by the fact you don't have many readers.

- Know your subject and be passionate about it Blog YOU! What do you love? What could you write about endlessly and not get bored by? That's what you gotta figure out and no one can do that for you. For me it's movies. I know there's tons and tons of movie blogs but I didn't let that put me off. I went ahead and focused on the stuff I loved, knowing I had NO interest in competing with other blogs. To start with my readership was almost non existent BUT I stuck at it and stayed consistent. I work on my blog all week but I post Mon, Wed and Friday and now my regular audience knows my routine and my readers have stuck with me.

-DO IT! Blogging is awesome. It keeps you busy. It means you spend a LOT of time writing - for me everyday - and that is never ever a bad thing for people who want to write.

-Be patient Don't expect a massive audience over night or even in a few weeks. You gotta take it slow. If you have social accounts online link your stuff and kindly ask friends to share but don't be in their face about it. No one likes a pushy writer looking for readership!
 

ipsbishop

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Hey everyone! At this point I should be old hat at this, but I'm absolutely not. I've tried blogging a bit, but I'm absolutely terrible at talking about myself so I quickly run out of blogging content. Does anyone have pointers on good topics?

I am published. I had two books with a now defunct publisher and have published the whole series on my own now. Do I blog only about writing or...? I don't know, I'm a bit confused. Can anyone help?

Folcor It's not that difficult but there are some keys to success. First, you're are writing to an audience and you have to know who they are. In my case it's boats, and my audience is boaters. Even this is way too broad, so I focus on marine electronics which is what I do for my day job. My daily WTF moments installing them provides endless opportunities for me to enthusiastically (Oft humorously and cynically) write about. You need to select a niche that you are personally passionate about. Knitting, collecting clocks, politics (gird your loins if you go this route) or whatever. Step two is you have to publish or perish. Nobody visits a blog that rarely updates. Ask others who blog on the same subject to cross link to your blog. (You exchange links with each other.) This creates a larger audience for both of you. Lastly, it takes time to build an audience so you have to be patient. One reader becomes five. Five becomes twenty, and then one day it's hundreds. Never write a blog expecting to make money. This most likely will never happen, but it can open doors for you. Writing my blog created the opportunity to write for boating magazines which do pay real money and gave me the practice I needed to get there.